BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Michigan Tech volleyball team had a hard-fought battle at No. 12 Ferris State on Friday, falling to the Bulldogs 3-1 in the GLIAC-opener. The three sets the Bulldogs won were all in a two-point margin with two of them going to extra points, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21, and 24-26.
"This match was a true dogfight, and I'm very proud of the way we battled this evening," Tech coach Cindy Pindral said. "We were definitely tested in serve receive, and I'm happy with our resilience and ability to grind. We had them on the ropes many times, it just seemed like one or two bounces went in their favor near the end."
Down 2-0 at the break, the Huskies settled into the third to get back into the match.
Brynn Erickson had a kill to begin the set and then served the Huskies to a quick 5-0 lead. They never trailed from that point on, building an eight-point lead. The home team fought back to a one-point margin, but the Huskies had four of the final five points—all on kills with
Jacqueline Yancy making it setpoint and then putting down the winner. Four different Huskies had at least three kills in the third.
FSU (6-3) built a six-point lead in the fourth before the Huskies fought back, going on a 7-1 run to lead 19-16 and then pushed it to 22-19. The Bulldogs scored four straight points before back-to-back double blocks by the Huskies made it setpoint for the Black and Gold. Ferris then closed out the match with three straight points to take the 3-1 win, 26-24.
Jacqueline Yancy had nine kills in the fourth and hit .429.
In the first set, the teams battled through 10 ties and seven lead changes. It was tied at 22 before the Bulldogs scored three of the final four points to take the 1-0 lead, 26-24.
Madelyn Torola and
Rachel Zurek each had three kills in the opening set.
The second frame was more of the same with six ties and three lead changes and each team having a 4-0 scoring run. The Bulldogs had setpoint before kills by
Paige Wagner and
Rachel Zurek extended the set. Emma Bleecher finally put down the 26-24 winner and 2-0 lead at the break.
Madelyn Torola and
Rachel Zurek again led the Tech attack, combining for eight kills.
Jacqueline Yancy finished with a match-high 20 kills, setting a new career-best. She hit .400 and added nine digs.
Brynn Erickson set a career-high with 30 digs while adding nine kills.
Rachel Zurek finished with 10 kills while
Tricia Kennedy and
Madelyn Torola each added eight.
Madelynn Kreider tallied a season-best 35 assists while
Tess Hayes added 16 assists.
Julia Fledderjohn finished with 21 digs.
"Brynn was the star of the show tonight by leading us in digs, passing very well, and providing quality offense," added Pindral. "She's an impressive athlete, a great teammate, and a fighter.
"Maddy Kreider executed our offensive game plan very well and kept our hitters in great rhythm. She's intelligent and strategic which is exactly what we need in the setter position. She provides so much leadership, despite being a first-year player.
"Jackie helped in a huge way off the bench early and helped us score big kills in crucial moments. She was targeted quite often in serve receive and stood her ground."
Tech (3-5) wraps up the weekend downstate at Davenport on Saturday. First serve against the Panthers is set for 2 p.m. DU swept Northern Michigan on Friday.
